There is a large source of latent demand for goods and services associated with leisure and business travelers who purchase plane tickets and/or make hotel reservations. For example, when a reservation at a hotel is made, often the customer is from out of town and requires a mode of transportation that is not dependent on the traveler's own vehicle. Even more frequently, a person who books an airline reservation is travelling out of town and similarly requires a means of transportation independent of the traveler's personal vehicle. Automobile rental agencies recognize that many of these travelers have various options in selecting a mode of transportation, such as public transportation, hotel or airport shuttles, automobile rentals, and the like. Automobile rental agencies further recognize that although renting a vehicle often provides greater transportation flexibility to a traveler, cost considerations may result in the selection of another mode of transportation. If a traveler is aware of a competitive (or discounted) automobile rental offering, however, the traveler may be more apt to select such mode of transportation upon arriving at the destination in which the hotel and/or airport is located.
There is currently no effective way, however, for any retail agency or service, such as an automobile rental agency with excess capacity to be connected to a person who has made a hotel and/or airline reservation. In particular, there is no effective way for a retail agency or service with excess capacity in a specific location to communicate a competitive or discounted rate to a traveler that has entered into a binding contract to fly to or spend at least an evening in a hotel in a destination that is in the agency's excess capacity location.
It is apparent from the above deficiencies with conventional systems for selling goods and services, such as those related to travelers (e.g., airline passengers and hotel guests), that a need exists for a method, system and apparatus to connect travelers to retail agencies or services, such as automobile rental agencies, having excess capacity in an arrival destination, to facilitate the acquisition of such goods or services.